Connected Mother, Business Women & Naturopath

Mark [0:00] Welcome to the Heart of Connection Podcast, I’m your host, Mark Randall and it’s a wonderful opportunity to sit and have a conversation with you about what the heart connection to self, others and ‘All That Is’ means to you. Just by way of intro, could you give a brief introduction to your kind self?

Bree [0:17] Yes. Hi, thank you, Mark, thanks for having me. My name is Bree, I’m a mother, business owner, and naturopath. I have two little boys and I own Great Ocean Road Wellness. I also have another manufacturing company Iris practice and I live here in Anglesea.

Bree [0:53] Completely. Yeah, I moved down Anglesea when I was 21. Had a New Year’s resolution was to learn how to surf and it’s been my heart home ever since.

Mark [1:06] I believe it’s my heart home too but I’m not here and I’m finding the disconnection from the place really painful. Got to move on. The heart of connection – How do you – what does it mean to you? How important or unimportant could that concept of Heart of Connection to you?

Connection to Heart is Essential

Bree [1:29] I feel that’s everything. If there’s no connection with the heart, you have no connection with self. No connection with what is around you. I feel that, as mentioned briefly, we were talking about before we started was – the seat of the emotion. I feel if we’re not connected with that – we don’t really understand ourselves or others. There is a lack of compassion, lack of understanding, everything that goes with a heart. If it is lacking this particular sadness that comes in people, as well. So I feel, yes – it’s just – it’s what we are missing. There is a huge link with heart. I feel there’s great sadness because of that. There’s also a lot of sadness within the heart that people don’t want to necessarily feel. So it’s quite an interesting thing – Is it the lack of connection that is bringing the sadness? Or, is their sadness in the heart that people – it’s too deep to feel and to work through and to understand. It could be from this lifetime, it could be from our families and we don’t quite understand it. So, yeah I feel if there’s a lot of depression and around and if there’s lack of connection of heart, and if you don’t feel safe in it – then there’s you’re not really understanding what is happening with yourself. Hence, connection with self and then comes anger and projection and so on. So, then that’s lack of connection with others that come from if – we’re not sitting within the heart space.

Disconnection From the Heart

Mark [1:34] The disconnection from the heart – Is that or could that be from your perspective, because of the sadness or because of the hurts that reside or manifest in there?

Bree [3:23] I feel it’s both, to be honest. I feel, yeah – there is if it’s too sad to sit in the heart – because – as the heart of the emotion, that it’s our life force, it’s our vitality, it’s everything. So energetically, yes, I feel that a lot of people struggle with that but I also feel like it’s been un-taught almost. Taught to stop crying, don’t do this. It’s sort of like – it’s almost we’ve been taught not to feel emotions. Again, it’s not just coming from this lifetime of my generation, it has been generation after generation of that lack of connection of how you feel. With that comes intuition and understanding and so on. It has become quite mental with it. Use the mind a lot more instead of the feeling.

Mark [4:23] In the West, we point to the mind in the head, whereas in the east, the mind is, when they talk about mind, they point to the heart.

Bree [4:31] That’s right,

Mark [4:32] Very clear differences between those two, the east and west. How do you connect? What’s your process of connecting to yourself? How do you do that? What’re your strategies techniques, processes to check in with yourself too and for your connection to self?

Connection to Naturopathy

Bree [4:52] Yes, it’s been through a period of time. So, a little bit background, how I got into naturopathy that I had such bad anxiety that I couldn’t go public. They want to put me on medication. I said, no, I’m gonna go and do this. So through healing, I went through a naturopath and I had Kinesiology and so on. That was around 10 years of continual practice of yoga, meditation, that I found my own way of connection. So, I now know if I’m in my mind, I can kind of differentiate if I’m too busy, that I may just have a moment to feel and it’s more of an energetic for me, now. I can go, I’m here. Speaking from the heart, it’s comfortable, I know what’s happening. If I get into my mind, I can feel it’s too busy, I can’t – I’m not making clear decisions, clear directions, anxiety will come. So yeah, it’s been a practice, I suppose and now I just integrate it with my everyday life. It did take a long time to be able to sit in there comfortably, day in day out. I can look at you Mark and look into the eyes and say, I’m here. I feel like that takes time and that’s okay. I feel like people want an instantaneous, but it’s a process to be able to sit in heart space and be comfortable in it.

Mark [6:11] When you notice you back in your mind, is there a disconnection for you in that process?

Awareness of my Disconnection

Bree [6:16] Completely. So and I supposed to answer your question on how, I just sort of feel my feet, and I feel warmth back in my heart, and I’m here. So and sometimes life does get busy so you do operate in your mind quite a lot. Then you can feel the disconnection and you’re rushing here, there and so on. As you said, you saw me with two little boys, it’s like here quick. It’s okay to sit back, come back in, feel your feet, take a deep breath.

Connection to self opens a connection to others

Mark [6:43] When you’re connected to yourself, does that then improve or open your connection to others?

Bree [6:49] Completely 100%. I find it that’s – that beautiful space is when you connected people on a heart level. Automatically they feel comfortable, they feel open, there’s a sensation that people – it happens naturally. So when you’re in your heart space, it allows others to be in their heart space as well.

Mark [7:13] When you experience, you’re in your heart space, and people are not in their heart space, what do you notice happens for you?

Bree [7:20] I noticed that I just hold it and I sit for longer. Then I feel it’s really up to them if they want to feel that and open up. Or some people may reject it. Most of the time a lot of people and rejection I mean that they kind of just – it’s a bit too much. Or they may walk away or whereas most people actually go thank you. Like, you can see – they’ll have a conversation, even five-minute conversation tears would normally come. You know, when I was in practice, it was a beautiful thing, people use to walk in through the door, and just crying. Like, thank you, let the healing begin because we’re sitting in the heart space now. That can even happen now in the shop. People walk in, and I’ll just have a moment, where I connect in the heart myself, connect with them and tears, will come or a conversation that they go, I don’t know why I’m saying this.

Heart Connections Differences

Mark [8:08] I’m wondering for some people that when you’re in the heart space, and you’re connecting to others. For them, is there or could there be discomfort for them, to be in that heart space?

Bree [8:19] Ah, definitely. There certainly is and I feel like that’s the rejection. So it’s not a rejection or myself, it’s more rejection of themselves. It stems back of what we’re saying – sometimes, there’s so much emotion being held in the heart centre energetically. They don’t – there are no tools. If people don’t know the tools, how to really access it, to feel it, to work through it. I myself, possibly that’s the anxiety that came. I lost my father at a young age and there’s a lot of processing that I had – that I had stored up. So I had to release a lot of these emotions. So, I feel there is this rejection, but it’s probably more so a lack of understanding. We again haven’t been taught the tools or we haven’t been allowed to feel for such a long period of time. That, I suppose we don’t have the knowledge, we don’t have the knowledge to sit in heart space.

Connection to our intuitive knowledge

Mark [9:18] My reaction to that, when you said, we don’t have the knowledge. My reaction to that is – the knowledge we do have, it’s intellectual knowledge, which is important but I’m not sure whether the intellectual knowledge cuts to the depth of that heart space of that connective space. Which is more of it a feeling, felt, energetic level – would that be fair to…

Bree [9:47] Yeah, completely and knowledge I feel, yes, intellectual but it’s also knowledge of meditation, like sitting. Knowledge to go, it’s okay for me to have this moment of time. Yes, and again, I feel like knowledge, we automatically think that it has to be intellectual, but knowledge is inner knowledge, inner knowing, inner understanding.

Mark [10:09] Embodying knowledge?

Connecting to our Inner Trust

Bree [10:11] Completely. Trusting that’s where the greatest knowledge is – is trusting higher self, source, God whatever – how anyone wants to call the higher of – or within? I feel that’s knowledge. That’s the greatest force that you can actually have. Intellectual is one vibration, knowledge is the next vibration I feel.

Mark [10:37] Just before the conversation we’re talking about the disconnection that’s occurring through the technological connection. What’s your experience? Do you believe in we’re connecting more or disconnecting through the technological connection?

Bree [10:57] Yeah, I really feel like we are disconnecting. I feel everyone is looking for a connection. There’s and the more that we are on technology, the more that people looking for connection through their phone or television. That we are actually disconnecting from sitting here with you Mark or a conversation. As you mentioned, dropped around for a cup of tea and how are things? Yeah, I feel even connection with food? There is, you can really see that yearning in people for connection and we’re getting further and further away from that. Instead of actually sitting and going, okay, I’m here, how you going and is that because we’re being taught? Again, or we’re – that’s my son, Freddie speaking about connection?

Connecting to Foods at the Right Time

Bree [11:52] Yeah, so I feel that and also where food is readily available. That’s losing the connection with food and so we’re not eating, what is in winter, what is in summer. I feel our bodies are craving that, as in a connection of, into Earth what is happening. Everything is a little bit screw if – and it’s all fast and ready and movement, and there’s no grounding, no sitting, no feeling. It’s all this advice on our hand, looking for that.

Mark [12:26] As you’re sharing that story, my mind went to, as you’re talking about the body and food. I wonder, because are we from a naturopathic experience – because of so becoming so disembodied? Is that having an impact on disease and illnesses into the body and the need for more naturopathic around that stuff?

Connecting to our embodiment

Bree [12:52] Yeah, definitely. I feel like the disease is a disease. It’s dis-ease in the body, it’s again, it can come back to heart space or its energetic blocks within our being. It can certainly come from emotion and emotion is a source of increased stress. Well then, will sort of stop the body allowing what it needs to do. Stress, people feel like or think of stress automatically to be something that like, we feel stressed about something. Stress is in the bodies in so many ways. So, the stress of not having that connection, not sitting there. Not the food that we’re eating that isn’t what was. This whole beautiful being, that operates, that used to having grains and root vegetables in winter. Then lots of leafy greens in summer, and it’s still trying to operate. Yet, we are putting all these different forms of food in at different times. So that’s one level of stress on to the being. To answer your question, yeah, it’s definitely, how can I say it? I feel that the stress is there. That then creates, like either emotional blockages or the stress. It’s quite like both and that’s interrelated. Then the body just can’t function. If we’re not functioning at all level, then our vibrations lower, we feel lethargic, our energy’s low, we’re exhausted. Then we’re looking for a form of energy. So, then are we looking for the connection through something that we don’t have to move. So it’s almost like this vicious cycle, that’s occurring and again, what keeps coming in and speaking with you, is that lack of understanding, and that’s my other little son, Larry. So I’ve got my two boys here (laughter). Again, lack of understanding of self, lack of understanding that it’s okay to be. I feel like we are always having to feel like we have to be in a particular way.

Mark [15:01] It’s how do we just be present to what is? I wonder whether some, you know, as you’re talking about that stress, that when we have disconnection or uncomfortable emotions, whether that causes the stress, and whether we learn to just to meditation, just bring presence to the stress. By bringing your presence to the stress I am wondering what would happen to the stress?

Connection through my practice of Meditation

Bree [15:31] Yeah, and I feel like, for years of meditation that I was doing, I got to a point where through practice, you could actually look – I had this most profound, beautiful experience. So I had done meditation and yoga every day for a whole year. There was no, no coffee, no stimulants, good food and I got to a point where I could actually see my thoughts in little bubbles. I feel you’re right, that if we just hit watch the stress – it will just dissipate and you realize it’s just a story that we’ve ever told ourselves. Or that we – if we can recognize what it is, so if it’s a food, or if it that’s the stress, then we can observe it, and we can let it go. If it’s emotion, we can certainly let it go. Or if it’s connected to someone, you can disconnect from that negative or stress connection that no longer serves you. Or if it’s a stress that or what was I going to say – a busy mind (laughter).

Bree [16:40] Yes, of being able to allow to sit and observe really is I feel it is key and we don’t have the time.

Bree [16:55] Okay, you gotta have your turn to soon – come and sit here if you want.

Mark [17:20] Can’t wait for Facebook Live (laughter) – How to have a Heart of Connection with massive fluffy microphone (laughter).

Bree [17:30] I think it’s great.

Stresses impact on our connection

Mark [17:32] So, in terms of connection to – you know, as you’re talking about stress, the more we bring presence to stress, I wonder whether we’re bringing our own – in that moment of presence, whether we’re bringing a loving-kindness to the stress that’s within us? Doesn’t matter how it’s triggered? I’m wondering whether and the more we’re not paying attention to it. Do we then intensify the story and the stress because we’re not paying attention to it?

Bree [18:06] I feel I totally agree. It’s acknowledgment. It’s we love – like to two little boys love to be acknowledged at that time, it’s everything. If you identify it, acknowledge it, or even feel it, sometimes we don’t even know what it is, but we can feel it and we can breathe into it. I feel again, you’re right, if we if there’s no acknowledgment it will – the story or the disease in the body will grow and so the disease would be more inflammation from energetic.

Connection to body memory

Mark [18:35] The body will hold – the body will inform us, won’t it. By coming back into the body – then sitting with it, we’re being with it – it’s in the body.

Bree [18:47] That’s right, completely.

Mark [18:49] How does naturopath work with the body? How does that help? How do you help people with stress through naturopathy? It’s a big question obviously.

Connecting to the Energetics of Naturopathy

Bree [19:00] No and so there naturopaths will practice differently. There’s certainly that study more or practice around nutrition and the herbs. I myself work more with the energetics of naturopathy. So I will definitely sit with a person. So one – hold heart space, go through what’s really happening here, get the full story. Then I always it’s usually the herbs. I always put bush flower essences in, because that’s the magic. So I feel, that again, we need to – in order to really do the best that I could do for the person coming to see me as a naturopath. I feel the energetic blocks, what are happening so beautiful Louise Hay, godmother, a grandmother of all energetics. So what is the throat? You’ve got a sore throat, okay, that understands the immune systems down? Is it the gut? Is it something but also, what are you trying to say? Like, what is the emotion that stress in the body that’s been blocked there? It’s color therapy that can go as well. That’s my boys in the background. They’re having a conversation sorry. That’s how I would I practice and help through nutrition is another one. Also looking at food. There’s a lot out there at the moment all about Keto diet and Pete Evans. When I first was watching, like the Pete Evans and Lola Berry, there was a part of me that was like – they’re not informed. But in fact, I feel like they’ve done a tremendous legacy forward for the health because it is actually getting people more aware and understanding of food – is medicine, which is incredible. So we’ve got people out there making this almost the in thing, to a point, it’s getting people to understand that I feel better because I have taken out a lot of carbs.

Even though yoga is the same – it’s becoming quite trendy, but people are starting to feel and to stretch their body. So I really feel like it’s going to watch this space. What is going to happen when the trendiness sort of – it changes and moves. People are and it’s still – it’s creating this wave of people really becoming more attuned to health and well-being. I mean, once upon a time, and as I said, I was a naturopath, people would have no idea. Whereas now it’s a very cool thing. It’s like, well, you’re a naturopath and it’s like, well, fantastic. There’s a certain acknowledgment of something. If people understand it or don’t, but least its starting to get people to access things that they wouldn’t necessarily. I’ve seen that throughout the years. There’s – if people don’t really know or if it’s not a trend, there’s certain fear around it, because it’s not the common thing. It’s not the done thing. Whereas now yoga, it’s very common. So all people are becoming more and more – like I do yoga on Saturday. So yeah, I just – it’s going to be really I feel interesting to see if the trend and what’s going to happen with that trend and what will happen with naturopathy and that health sector of it all.

Mark [22:16] Just through your conversation, it sounds like people are reconnecting back to their bodies through technology is giving us that. Through the search for connection, we are getting more information and people are connecting back to their bodies. There’s a point you talked about earlier in the conversation about connecting to Anglesea. How much – how valuable is our environmental connection to self?

Connection to the beautiful environment of Anglesea

Bree [22:47] Yeah, again my initial heart space was – it’s everything and why it’s a place we call home. It gives us the ability if we can’t find home within ourselves. It’s the home the space that allows – provides you the space to do that. It’s kind of community as well. The old Anglesea is not only – it’s the beautiful raw cliff faces that are just – it’s so strong and powerful and indigenous. It’s that old culture you can feel that breeze within the cliff faces. It’s also the connection to – so that’s sort of the land but the people really. Anglesea is an incredible community. Beautiful because it’s so diverse. It’s got this diversity, it is rootsy, it’s got the old roots, you know, we have – coming into Great Ocean Road Wellness, these beautiful people and the men – because we get the traders in the morning for coffee – that are born and bred and grown up. Then you have to the extreme – to people who are coming down on the weekends. Yeah, I feel like it’s…..

Mark [24:01] Looks like it’s a lovely connection for you.

The Energy of my Connection to Anglesea

Bree [24:03] It really is. Yeah and again, it’s sort of almost – comes back to what we’re saying – acknowledgment. Its – we all have different parts of self and again, it’s been able to relax in those parts of self to be able to connect to other people. Yes. Okay.

Mark [24:23] He’s not sharing

Bree [24:23] Yes. He’s not connecting and what we do we say at the start loving and kind (laughter)

Mark [24:33] It’s a work in progress (laughter). Even into adulthood, we’re still…..(laughter)…..

Bree [24:40] Time to share. Maybe we should have shared time – you said on Facebook we come and have a cup of tea. And we share

Mark [24:50] One of the things in the conversation when we talk about the environment. The incredible connection to the “All That Is’ that people share with me. I’m wondering whether that’s something similar that you when you connect to the environment here – because it is the ‘bush meets the sea.’ All the trees all that – where do you go? What happens to your sense of self? What happens to your connection as you’re in the bush as you’re seeing and experiencing those cliffs?

Connection to ‘Sea meet the Bush’

Bree [25:19] Yeah, I look and that’s where the “sea meets the bush.” I feel like the bush nurtures me and the ocean cleanses me. So, I know sometimes when I get a chance to go surfing but I when I am out in the water, I just feel that even I must say a few weeks ago I just went out and I hadn’t been out for a long time. We had an extremely hard year last year through business and there was a lot of personal things that went out. I made the time for myself to go out and I just cried. I could just feel the ocean – I could just breathe and I just felt like this almighty cleanse. Like it was the safe space that provides energetically for you to really be able to go to the depths of depths and cleanse on a phenomenal level. The oceans have always been a great teacher for me.

Connection to Oneness in the Ocean

Mark [26:15] There’s a sense of self dissolve when you’re in the ocean?

Bree [26:19] Yes completely 100%. I feel like hence its cleansed. I feel like you’re removing parts that no longer serve you or out in nature that you’re becoming connected – you’re becoming one. You can kind of put your hands on the soil and come into the tree and then there’s space there’s just nothing else other than just space. You feel – there are no parts of self really with that.

Mark [26:44] How do you then – when you experience that – I was just watching and observing the energy. It looked like you were reconnecting to the oneness of it. How do you then bring that back into everyday living? When you bring it back – hold the pleasant and/or the unpleasant? Is there a way to and does it help you hold both of those the opposites? Our pleasant sensations, unpleasant sensations our pleasant emotions, unpleasant emotions. Does it enable you to hold them differently?

Bree [27:15] Yeah, and that’s been a good reminder this conversation really. I used to remember every day I used to have those moments of just connecting to everything of that infinite space. You could feel that the whole environment just change. It was just it’s a beautiful feeling. How do I do it now? I feel I do it more simply. I don’t because I’m not doing workspace with a lot of people. But yeah, it’s a friendly reminder to keep doing it

My Advice for Young People

Mark [27:50] One of the questions to start drawing the conversation to close. I have been asking guests – Is there a piece of advice for young women young men walking behind you that you would like to share from your experience about the Heart the Connection to Self, Others and All that is?

Bree [28:09] Yeah, believe. Believe in you. Believe that everything that you need or that you have is with you. Feel, don’t be afraid to be connected to humans, to anything, feeling into it and know that you’re never alone.

Mark [28:27] Just want to pick up a question on that ‘believe’. Where do they need to believe from in their being?

Connection Comes Back to the Heart

Bree [28:36] Believe in – I go to almost down to the belly. Believe in sort of self I suppose. Believe that with that is the connectedness of all. Good question Mark. Believe. Its heart really. It comes back to heart, so I sort of went down to sacral chakra and then I came back to heart. So it’s believe in that space and believe that it’s infinite. I remember Peter Hatti a wonderful local came in. I once said to him, my heart is infinite space of goodness and sometimes we forget that. Like it’s this infinite space it will always continue on.

Connection to Heart and Mind Harmony

Mark [29:23] There is such an inner knowing in there. Such a deep belief if we can allow ourselves to certainly surrender. That’s the wrong word. I don’t know – just open up to go beyond the mind. It is my experience that the deeper we go into our hearts – when there’s peace in our heart ~ there’s peace in our minds. Heart and mind harmony. That to me is the ultimate connection.

Mark [30:00] Thank you for this connection. Thank you for this conversation. Thank you for sharing your two young boys and its beautiful to have their connection and their journey of learning to connect and learning to share. It’s really appreciated. I hope the shop it’s a beautiful idea to have that organic process here for people to be able to go to the appropriate source of where good food should come from. Yeah, all the best with it and all the best with your connections and thank you for the opportunity to connect with you today. Really appreciate it.